A girl jumps from a bridge in the night. Next day, Cal (Tim Roth) talks with Emily ( Hayley McFarland) in the car and happens to pass the same bridge, getting stuck in traffic. Of course being Cal, he has to be curious and talks with a policeman, who from his gestures and evasion concludes there was a suicide. He notices Gail (Megan Dodds) from the US Attorney's office who used to work with his ex wife. She tells him the girl also had a sister who committed suicide a few days earlier. He's not deterred and can't stop himself from getting involved. Emily asking him that he used to study suicides. He still does. Cal talks with Arun (Sunkrish Bala) the sisters' brother and mother. Cal still recalls some Hindi and their mother, who is beside herself asks why they did this?
Arun says his sisters stayed on in the US and used to send money home - leading Cal to stow away in his office and watch an old film on a projector about a woman who is in therapy. Well it could only be Cal's mother - as she mentions wanting to go home to her children. Also this episode follows from the last one where he briefly talked about his mother, more so that his best friend, Jeffrey, was there for him when she died. (Similar to the season 1 episode Unchained and Ria's (Monica Raymund) own experiences with her abusive father, making her a natural at reading people.) Here in much the same way, Cal's mother's suicide framed who he is and what he does, causing him to study "micro-expressions" (tell-tale signs of trouble.) Naturally, Ria opens his office door and catches a glimpse of the footage. Being a natural, she knows Cal is affected in some way by this.
Cal needs to find out why they killed themselves. From photos, both the girls displayed shame. The girls were here on a travel visa and stayed, so he and Ria pay a visit to immigration officer, Mike Personick (Kirk BW Woller) who states he can't help. (Note his job and that's why he could have been the only one involved in this.) Cal finds out his wife's name is Beth and threatens to tell her he's been cheating as clearly Mike is lying. He finally relents telling them the sisters were working at an Indian strip club. He visited the club when he was meant to be working. That he lied once, makes him a more viable suspect.
The club owner, Patel (Anjul Nigam) was filming the girls there, as Cal finds a secret camera wired to an Internet feed. This was seen in India and by Arun. They shamed their father but he resolved to unite the family. Another Indian girl is reported to have committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. Cal needs Gillian (Kelli Williams) but she's not around and he is dismayed over this. She being the only one he can talk to and vice versa. You can hear the desperation in his voice and it's clear the two share more than just a working relationship and know more about each other's personal lives than they let on. Cal notices marks on the girl's face and marks these on her photo.
Gillian is working with Eli (Brendan Hines) on locating the money hidden away by Joseph Hollin, (Daniel Benzali) stolen from investors. Brought onto the case by the SEC, he refuses to speak and is terminally ill. His daughter, Carolyn (Mandy Jane Turpin) wants them to leave. Eli is very hostile towards her and hates the way they are able to get away with their crime. Gillian has to reprimand Eli over his attitude and doesn't allow him to her a second time. Gillian realizes she is the one who stole the money and she wants it returned to the investors. Eli wants her brought to book. Hollin agrees to give up the money if he can take the fall for his daughter. Gillian agrees as the investors will receive their money but Eli is disgusted. The SEC calls Gillian to tell her they no longer require her services and they have arrested Carolyn.
Gillian is furious and is adamant Eli turned her in as he was the only one privy to this info. Gillian has no choice but to believe him when he denies it was him, or does she? Eli admits the truth to Ria and she doesn't want to know, she's the only one he trusts (just as Cal trusts Gillian.) She asks how he pulled off lying and he tells her he used a sedative. Ria should've known this since Cal did the same for the army woman in 1.2 Moral Waiver, when she passed her polygraph, so should Gillian. Eli tells Ria about Louise Mason, the woman on the footage. She killed herself after she was released and this led to Cal discovering 'micro expressions'. When he slowed down the tape, he could see the agony on her face. Gillian catches up with Cal, but it's too late now, he doesn't need her anymore.
Emily brings Cal dinner and recalls a girl in one of her classes who killed herself. Cal says she shouldn't think about these things - but about celibacy. Ria confronts Gillian about Louise - but just as Cal is abrupt with Ria when she brings up his lying over Alex cheating on Gillian, she acts in the same way. "Just because you see everything, doesn't men you understand it." Could that be a subtle reference to her own personal life. Cal shows Ria the tape and she notices the pain in Louise. Then apologizes. He replies she shouldn't be sorry for what she sees. Ugh, something completely different to Gillian. Ria would have picked up on this despair in Louise, even back then. This also affects him, cos if this was known back then and if Ria was around then she'd have been able to save Louise, or any natural like Ria.
The marks from the girl's face were a result of pregnancy and she gave birth to a baby. All three were working as surrogates. On a raid several pregnant women are discovered and one of them, Kiran (Kosha Patel) IDs Mike. He was meant to pay them but he kept the money for room and food. If he knew she was going to kill herself and did nothing then he can be charged with 'depraved heart.' Cal knows he's lying but that won't stand up in court. A call was made from her phone and so Cal brings in a man claiming to be her father. Speaking in Hindu throughout, he demands to know if he's the bastard who killed his daughter. He knows she called him asking for help and Mike did nothing. Knew that wasn't really her father (a ploy used in many shows including NCIS season 2.7 Call of Silence when Gibbs (Mark Harmon) got the man from his Japanese restaurant to play a Japanese soldier at Iowa Jima.) Mike confesses she did call him and is charged.
Cal shows Emily the tape and she recognizes her grandmother (that was obvious). He begins to tell the details - which we don't get, but it's something Cal realizes he finally needs to do. Many similarities between Cal and Eli here, in that both of them strive for justice. Cal appears to do it for the right reasons though. Eli seems to be geared more to putting Carolyn behind bars to the detriment of those investors who lost out. Yet Eli too seems to have a much deeper reason for his contempt towards her, more personal; but we don't know that cos we can't have two reveals in the same episode.
Think this was the best episode so far this season with plenty of character development, getting to see what motivates Cal and how/why he came to do this sort of work. Also why he is envious of Ria and her natural abilities. Eli appears to have some sort of a personal reason for this too. Gillian doesn't seem to know he lied - but perhaps Ria would have noticed as she did in episode 1.6 Do No Harm when he lied about his feelings for Farida. Ooh irony, with some hypocrisy, Eli can lie and yet he's there to investigate and root out others lies. This episode also answered Ria's question of what motivates Cal to do this work, or rather who. But she doesn't know that's his mother.
Gillian: "Okay."
Eli: "Okay you believe me or okay I'm not showing any signs of lying?" He had to be sure of this and yet he almost gives himself away when he says he's not showing any sings of lying.
Gillian: "The worst lies we tell out of love but I'd want my family to learn from their mistake." Something Ria said about Eli when he lied in that episode. Was this an allusion to Alex on her part?
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